Alone in the Rain

Dark clouds covered the sky, rain poured across the city, thundering as if God was unleashing his wrath.

A child, not more than 14, stood in front of her school. Class had ended early that day, and most of the children had vacated the premises. She was alone.

She pressed her back against the wall and sighed, a sigh of frustration. She looked eagerly both ways, but no one replied her gaze other than the wet scenery before her eyes.

She looked down at her feet and pouted, showing a sign of disapproval to no particular audience.

"Crazy weather we're having, huh?"

The girl jerked back to her senses. She saw a man's face and calmed down slightly, though still exhibiting caution.

"Y-Yeah", she replied hesitantly.

"Ah, sorry for frightening you, kid", the man said as he closed his umbrella.

She gave a half genuine smile and nodded as if saying it's fine.

"From this school?", he asked.

She was deep in thought about what her mother said about strangers. She never took it to heart, but now she was afraid.

"Yeah?", he asked again.

"Hm?", her thoughts made her miss the question.

"You from this school?"

"Yeah, class got over early today so...", she said as she twirled her hair in nervousness.

"Waiting for your parents?"

"They're a bit late though", she said while looking both ways once again as an excuse to avoid his eyes.

No one spoke for a while, this made the girl feel a little awkward. She held the straps of her backpack tightly; she took this opportunity to take a proper look at the man next to her. She caught a glimpse of him from the edge of her eye. The man was clean shaven, looked fairly old and donned a black suit which was half soaked.

The man began whistling, causing the girl to quickly turn her head.

Noticing her fluster, he smiled. He eyed the girl from head to toe. He turned and said, "My daughter used to go to this school, looked just like you in that uniform."

She thought of inquiring about his daughter, but then decided it's best not to continue the conversation. She gave another weary smile.

He took out a picture of his daughter to show the girl, but the wind caught it, the photo landing near the girl's feet.

Obligatorily, she bent down and picked it up. Eerily, the girl in the picture looked a lot like her. She felt slight unease. She looked up to return the man's picture; but there was nobody there, no one other than the wet scenery returned her gaze. She was alone.